By William Boston And Todd Buell
FRANKFURT--An era at one of Europe's biggest corporations ended
dramatically Saturday when Ferdinand Piech, chairman of Volkswagen
AG and grandson of the company's founder, unexpectedly resigned all
duties after losing a rare public battle to oust the company's
chief executive.
The supervisory board of Volkswagen, Europe's biggest automotive
group by sales, said in a statement that Mr. Piech, who is 78 years
old, tendered his resignation after the board's executive committee
agreed that the "mutual trust that is needed for successful
cooperation no longer exists."
That prompted Mr. Piech and his wife Ursula to resign all duties
on the board and within the company.
Mr. Piech's resignation not only ends a battle for the
leadership of the company known around the world for its popular
cars from the iconic Beetle to the best-selling Golf and a stable
of brands that include Audi, Porsche, Skoda, Bentley, Bugatti and
Lamborghini.
Once given an award as automotive executive of the century, Mr.
Piech's decision to quit also ends his 25-year reign at the top of
Volkswagen, the company founded by his grandfather Ferdinand
Porsche. Over the past quarter century Mr. Piech wielded enormous
influence in the global automotive industry and steered Volkswagen
to the top of the industry, challenging Toyota Motor Corp. and
General Motors Co. for the industry's top spot.
The resignations are effective immediately and leave the family
that controls 51% of Volkswagen's voting shares with just three
representatives of the Porsche family on the board. It wasn't
immediately clear what happens to the Piech seats on the board.
Berthold Huber, deputy board chairman and a representative of
the IG Metall union, will take over as acting chairman until a new
chairman is elected. The supervisory board is due to meet on May 4,
a day before the annual shareholders meeting on May 5.
Write to William Boston at william.boston@wsj.com and Todd Buell
at todd.buell@wsj.com
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